It has an area of 103.07 km2 (39.8 sq mi) and about 347,100 inhabitants. Pankow's current mayor is Matthias Koehne (SPD).

Between 1945-1960 many members of the government of East Germany lived in the Majakowskiring district of Pankow. Western writers often called Pankow capital of East Germany, or used Pankow as shorthand for the East German government.